Why changing plans in the mountains is never a bad idea
I looked out the window and there was snow, fat fluffy snow flakes falling from the sky. In the middle of September, at 1700 metres above sea level. What the hell?! I was in the middle of guiding a group of hikers along the Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites, we were safe and warm inside a mountain hut but my brain went immediately into emergency mode: what will we do tomorrow? Will it be safe to hike? How much snow will be left on the ground? Is there any alternative routes we could take? Do we even have the right clothes for these temperatures? So much for a chilled day at the office..
This didn’t come as much as a surprise, though. It had been in the forecast for days and I had been monitoring it closely, but maybe there was a part of me who didn’t want it to happen or didn’t really believe it would happen. I love summer after all and the first snow of the season hurts every time. Anyway, back to the fat fluffy snow flakes falling from the sky, one thing was clear and it was that I had to come up with an alternative plan. That was my immediate reaction to the situation, I didn’t even had to think about it and I absolutely had no doubt about it. We weren’t prepared for below zero temperatures, we didn’t have the right kit and there was just no reason to risk it. A couple of phone calls later we had our plan B that would have kept us safe and still allowed us to reach our destination for the day: winner. I explained the situation to the group, everybody understood and was happy with the decision. End of story, or so I thought.
But it wasn’t until the next day that I started doubting myself and it was all because of some photos. Some colleagues, who had not felt the need to change plans (totally legitimate), were sharing photos of them and their clients in shorts, knee deep in snow, enjoying some snacks. Had I overreacted? Was my decision too much? Maybe we would have been fine after all. All these questions popped into my head and all of a sudden I was not so sure of my decision anymore.
Of course, maybe things would have been fine but walking for eight hours on technical terrain under heavy rain and snow, with constantly dropping temperatures, is not really my definition of fun. The chance of somebody hurting themselves, slipping on wet rock and twisting their ankle for example, increase drastically in such conditions. And what would have happened if somebody injured themselves and we had to wait for help for hours, standing still and with our bodies getting colder and colder? I couldn’t risk it and I knew it. It’s not about being a better guide if you stick to plan A no matter what, it’s about doing what’s best for everyone’s safety and that sometimes entails not walking at all, or changing the route. We all know how difficult it is to make a decision before knowing how things are really going to turn out (hindsight and all that..) but I think there’s lots of learning in situations like this as well.
Learning to accept our limits, to say “ok, today I can only go so far” and then stop, turn around, change plans. It’s learning and accepting that the mountains make the rules and sometimes all we can do is follow them, not try to break them. It’s being happy with what we could do instead of regretting what we couldn’t do. Because that’s the role of a guide, after all. It’s not to take you to the objective no matter what, but to teach you how to make decisions in the mountains and how to be a safe and responsible hiker. Always.